I was really down after last night's disappointing nachos. I want to say again that they were buenos, but not super buenos.
Tonight's dinner set us back on track. Javier fixed TURKEY PICADILLO using an old recipe that I got in Mexico years ago for the filling of "real" chiles rellenos. The original recipe calls for ground beef, but since we're watching what we eat, we decided to give it a try with ground turkey tonight. I have to say - it was exceptional. Super bueno.
Picadillo is a combination of ground meat, potatoes, diced carrots, onions, raisins, sliced olives and seasonings. Mucha sazón. It is all cooked together in a light tomato sauce, or diced tomatoes, and then can be used as a filling for chiles rellenos, or served on it's own as a main dish. It is surprisingly similar to what we consider taco meat - the ground beef filling that we load into those hard taco shells and that (sometimes) has diced onions and bell peppers cooked into the meat with some seasoning.
Picadillo, because of the added tomatoes, vegetables, raisins and olives, is a lot juicier than what we consider to be taco meat. It is delicious served over rice. Supposedly it has a long history dating back to the Moors' invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). The Arabic influence on Spanish cuisine, which later traveled into the Americas, is said to have brought together different flavors and condiments such as raisins, potatoes, olives, and spices. The Mexicans, I believe, made it better by adding their native chiles. It seems that every Latin American country has some version of picadillo, including the Argentines who make something similar and use it as a filling for empanadas.
Ours, made with turkey tonight, was really good. We served it with rice, beans, and corn tortillas. I kept wanting more of the picadillo because it was so flavorful, but remembered to keep controlling my portions. Since we had a lot left over, stay tuned to tomorrow's blog to see what we do with the rest!
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